If we had landed Jeff Garcia, would this year be different?

[goto11]

If nothing else, at least Garcia would have been good veteran experience for Gradkowski (or even Simms) to lean on during tough times.  But the problems with this team are so deep and fundamental that one backup quarterback would not have made a significant difference in terms of wins and losses.

[Pick6]

the QB position, despite being manned by a rook, isn't the biggest reason for losing games....there have been so many dropped passes, and the run game has been so underutilized, that i don't think it would make much of a difference who spent the season behind center.

i think garcia would've made little to no difference, certainly not the difference between 3-9 and the playoffs...

[cvillebucfan]

He played pretty damn good last night. I can't help but think if the Bucs landed him how different this year might be. As much as I pound on Silly-ho I remember during TC he mentioned that the Bucs made a huge mistake on not having a veteran back-up in case Simms goes down.

We're living it now and it's obvious this was a major mistake by the FO. Was it the $$$? I thought the Bucs had a little room last off-season?

Thats is why I say its Grudens fault and not necessarily Grads. I mean for crying out loud we go into the season with Simms and basically nobody. Garcia played well last night be has struggled immensely the past 2 years at Detroit and Cleveland.

it was a big mistake, obviously. Who doens't struggle in Det and Cle.? Jeff fits the system perfectly and should've been brought in.

Grads is the same type of player Jeff is, it's crazy, but he's got nill experience as an NFL starting QB.

Spot on, detroit and cleveland are burial grounds for QB's no doubt.

[keeponbucn]

the QB position, despite being manned by a rook, isn't the biggest reason for losing games....there have been so many dropped passes, and the run game has been so underutilized, that i don't think it would make much of a difference who spent the season behind center.

i think garcia would've made little to no difference, certainly not the difference between 3-9 and the playoffs...

I just can't agree with that my man. Garcia has been there before and would've pulled more out of this offense than Grads has. I'm not saying the Bucs would be playoff material but they would've pulled off a few more victories.

The QB position has been a big problem. I like Grads and how he's perofrmed for a rookie but replace that with a vet like Jeff and the offense could've pulled out some games.

QB's can make o-lines look better ala Tom Brady. I saw Garcia avoid pressure with a little slide and find an open WR, something Grads hasn't learned yet.

[keeponbucn]

He played pretty damn good last night. I can't help but think if the Bucs landed him how different this year might be. As much as I pound on Silly-ho I remember during TC he mentioned that the Bucs made a huge mistake on not having a veteran back-up in case Simms goes down.

We're living it now and it's obvious this was a major mistake by the FO. Was it the $$$? I thought the Bucs had a little room last off-season?

Thats is why I say its Grudens fault and not necessarily Grads. I mean for crying out loud we go into the season with Simms and basically nobody. Garcia played well last night be has struggled immensely the past 2 years at Detroit and Cleveland.

it was a big mistake, obviously. Who doens't struggle in Det and Cle.? Jeff fits the system perfectly and should've been brought in.

Grads is the same type of player Jeff is, it's crazy, but he's got nill experience as an NFL starting QB.

[keeponbucn]

I think he might be an option next season, at least has the back-up:

http://bbs.pewterreport.com/index.php?topic=2859.0

He is 36 but he is healthy and hasn't played that many seasons. He would be the cheapest quick fix for one or two season. IMO

wow, good dig MJ.

[Boid Fink]

Would the season be different?

Who knows.

Would Gradkowski still be on the bench?  Damn straight.

But given the abilities of the offense this year, I highly doubt Garcia does anything but get hammered time and again.

[cvillebucfan]

He played pretty damn good last night. I can't help but think if the Bucs landed him how different this year might be. As much as I pound on Silly-ho I remember during TC he mentioned that the Bucs made a huge mistake on not having a veteran back-up in case Simms goes down.

We're living it now and it's obvious this was a major mistake by the FO. Was it the $$$? I thought the Bucs had a little room last off-season?

Thats is why I say its Grudens fault and not necessarily Grads. I mean for crying out loud we go into the season with Simms and basically nobody. Garcia played well last night be has struggled immensely the past 2 years at Detroit and Cleveland.

I think he might be an option next season, at least has the back-up:

http://bbs.pewterreport.com/index.php?topic=2859.0

He is 36 but he is healthy and hasn't played that many seasons.  He would be the cheapest quick fix for one or two season. IMO

I'd like Garcia as a backup or spot starter.

[keeponbucn]

He played pretty damn good last night. I can't help but think if the Bucs landed him how different this year might be. As much as I pound on Silly-ho I remember during TC he mentioned that the Bucs made a huge mistake on not having a veteran back-up in case Simms goes down.

We're living it now and it's obvious this was a major mistake by the FO. Was it the $$$? I thought the Bucs had a little room last off-season?

[mjs020294]

I think he might be an option next season, at least has the back-up:

http://bbs.pewterreport.com/index.php?topic=2859.0

He is 36 but he is healthy and hasn't played that many seasons.  He would be the cheapest quick fix for one or two season. IMO

He played pretty damn good last night. I can't help but think if the Bucs landed him how different this year might be. As much as I pound on Silly-ho I remember during TC he mentioned that the Bucs made a huge mistake on not having a veteran back-up in case Simms goes down.

We're living it now and it's obvious this was a major mistake by the FO. Was it the $$$? I thought the Bucs had a little room last off-season?

Didn't they try to get Garcia first, then ended up getting Feidler...that turned out great.  It could very well be that the season mught be a bit better, as I do see the flashes of what we need out of this offense.  The system works, the players aren't getting it done right now.  The problem is that as much as we want to look to a rookie QB to blame him, the running game sucks, we can't keep the Defense out of the the backfield and the receivers can't catch the ball.

Here's another "what if": What if we could go a whole game without dropping a pass?

It certainly would've given the game on Sunday a different complexion, with Caddy converting that 3rd down after the Broks INT.  We had drop on the sideline that would've turned a 3rd and 7 into a third and 1.  We had two TD's dropped.

I'm not saying that the receivers deserve all the blame, but that is the type of mistakes we're making right now: we cannot get the simple stuff done.

The FO was banking on Fiedler getting healthy I assume.

[netsbucscardsfan]

he has weapons and one of the best o-lines in football in philly, neither of which he would have in tampa. so he would suck just like our other qbs did this year

[ZenBuc]

He played pretty damn good last night. I can't help but think if the Bucs landed him how different this year might be. As much as I pound on Silly-ho I remember during TC he mentioned that the Bucs made a huge mistake on not having a veteran back-up in case Simms goes down.

We're living it now and it's obvious this was a major mistake by the FO. Was it the $$$? I thought the Bucs had a little room last off-season?

Thats is why I say its Grudens fault and not necessarily Grads. I mean for crying out loud we go into the season with Simms and basically nobody. Garcia played well last night be has struggled immensely the past 2 years at Detroit and Cleveland.

I thought the Bucs tried to get Garcia here, but either they couldn't afford him, or he just decided Philly was a better place for him.
Griese was too expensive and he wanted a shot at being a starter and CHI looked like a good place at the time
Brees was way out of price range
Fiedler was signed in hopes he'd heal
And these were the other QBs in FA:
Aaron Brooks
Todd Collins
Gus Ferotte
Jon Kitna
Jamie Martin
Josh McKown
Mike McMahon
Craig Nall
Sage Rosefels
Anthony Wright


What should the Bucs have done?